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Daughter

Ok. Sorry this has taken forever to push out! The last few days seem like they flew by, but at times [like sitting in the ER] time felt as though it was moving slower than … well, slower than time spent in a little white room with unknown outcomes!

First off, I GREATLY appreciate the support I received on here, Twitter and Facebook!!! Knowing I had you guys rooting for us helped. So Sunday things were looking up right? Yeah, we thought so too. Kara woke up Monday morning, with her eye swollen [almost] shut and it was way worse than Saturday’s initial “ohcrap” moment. So yes, you guessed it, right back to the ER. Where we sat for about 6 hours? Or was it 5? Maybe 7? Either way, they ran WAY more testing, and looked at her more intently. This also means they had to a) draw blood b) set her up for a possible IV.

Um. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about how this went down…

I’ll tell you right now, when it comes to most things, I can keep it together. To get her set up for an IV, they literally swaddled her in a blanket, taped an arm board to her arm, and of course, recruited me to help. Seeing her in this condition, and having to physically constrain my own screaming child is something that will send me into hysterics. [ps – I was uber pissed when the nurse quipped, “MOM you’re GOING to have to hold it together”. seriously? my two year old is in the worst pain of her short life, you’re making me pin her body down and you want me to NOT express emotion over this? Yeah, uh, eff off.] I do take solace in the fact that she was pain free when she wasn’t being annoyed by doctors. I say annoyed, because yes, they are there to help; but she doesn’t know that and will let you know.

[ taken yesterday, just after the IV was set up. her other eye looks swollen, but that’s just from crying all morning]

Long story short – she’s fine now. And like, FOR REAL fine, not “sunday” fine. She is on a different set of antibiotics [we didn’t have to do the IV, they determined the infection wasn’t ‘that’ bad], and within a day of them her eye is much less swollen, and the redness is nearly gone. We had a follow up appointment today and the doctors agree that the rest of the antibiotics will take care of everything, and they shouldn’t have to see her unless things turn south. And, if that’s the case, you will find me in a corner somewhere, losing my mind.

[ taken today!!!! she was mad at some brat kid at the doctor’s office. that’s a whole ‘nother post]

Scientific stuff :: She basically had a staph infection in her eye, leading to Pre-septal Cellulitis [common in young kids]. On Saturday, we left the ER with the misdiagnosis of Blepharitis [more common in the elderly]. Had the ER staff done a little more checking, we might have nipped this in the bud more than we already have. The extensive tests they did in the ER on Monday, where to see if the infection was in the front part of the eye [it was]. Had it been in the back, then it would affect muscles, and her vision could have been compromised. The blood they took was to determine white blood cell count, which came back fine. You can read more about this serious infection here, and I promise that there aren’t disgusting photos to look at – I checked. We’re not exactly sure [and the doctors say we might never know] how this came to be. There might have been “something” in her eye that nicked her eyelid and got infected – again, hard to say.

We all carry the bacteria for staph within and on our bodies – knowing the signs of a staph infection are vital, and I urge you to study them, even for a precaution. I have personally had MRSA, and my husband has had it twice. Scary stuff, and VERY aggressive.

This weekend was beyond insane. We had planned to just hang out, relax, and not do anything nuts.

“Anything nuts” would consist of numerous examples. Like say, calling your husband home from his run group on Saturday morning to spend in the ER, hanging out at a Verizon store for the next couple of hours, not having your child nap until 4 PM (!!!!!!) and staying up with said cranky, tired child until she passes out at almost 11 pm.

Buuuuuut of course, as well all know, things never go according to plan. Sometimes your kiddo will wake up with a swollen, red eyelid that will send your half asleep senses into “OHMYGAWD” mode, and send you scrambling to even put shoes on. You will then get to the ER, be assured by the doctor that everything is fine; and you and your husband, with nerves shot and emotions fried [ok really, just me, he’s the strong one] will head to lunch with your happy-go-lucky-doesn’t-know-whats-going-on toddler.

From there you will remember that you have to go to Verizon to get a new phone for The Husband because his got demolished while out playing ‘Army.’ You will think, No big deal, we have insurance on it, we’ll be in and out. Oh, but you would be mistaken, my friend. Remember the time where you bought The Husband’s phone in Oklahoma? Well, they actually weren’t a corporate store, and the ‘insurance’ you thought you bought, wasn’t actually legit. While those sentences took about 30 seconds to type out, in reality, this took about 23487 phone calls and about an HOUR on the phone with numerous Verizon contacts. *lovely*. Somehow Husband ended up with my old Blackberry, and I got a shiny new iPhone. Still don’t know how that happened.

Cue Sunday. Due to the eye issue, I barely slept; mainly from nerves, and I told Husband that I didn’t even want to go to church. Again, everything is hunky dory, and things are looking better and better as hours pass. Fortunately, she doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on – zero pain, fever, discomfort, etc., which makes me feel loads better. I probably should have ran while Kara was sleeping, but to be completely honest, everything caught up to me and I had to zonk out for TWO HOURS. It felt like I was out for 10 minutes.

Things are finally looking up; we’re planning Thanksgiving, I feel normal, and I look forward to the coming week. I have a baby appointment tomorrow [16 weeks!] the kiddo has a follow up appointment on Tuesday.

Now, if anyone has advice on how to pin down a toddler to put warm compresses against her eye, and have it NOT turn into World War III, I would greatly appreciate it.

– Crayolas. Scribbling, coloring, those are staples right? Did you know, that a toddler will spend hours taking the paper wrapping off of crayons, only to be found COVERED in mutilated paper and chunks of color chips under her nails? Oh yes.

– My husband’s calm/cool/collected demeanor. Seriously. The world could be ending tonight, and he would be the first to comment on how lovely the sky looks. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again – I need to take a page from his book.

Simply awesome.

– Garmin’s Virtual Partner training thingy. Just cuz.

– Fresh fruit. Except for when you buy them at Costco, thinking you and your family can eat all 5 pounds of strawberries, only to have them go bad. sadface.

– I’m UBER thankful that my toddler loves going to the grocery store. I have seen many-a-meltdown, and while I can’t relate, I totally sympathize.

– Again, being a part of Run to Remember is something I’m grateful for. They have hill workouts or speed work every Thursday night, and I know for a FACT I wouldn’t be out there on my own. Husband has staff duty tonight, so I nixed the idea of going to the speed work session, until a friend of mine mentioned I could still go – but I’d be running on the outside lane with the stroller. Nice.

Day 9 :: Someone You Love

Wow, today was a rough run. A week or so ago, I developed this brilliant idea at the time to honor my brother on his birthday. Since he would have been 41, I decided to run the equivalent to 41 laps around a track. There was NO WAY in the world I’d ever run 41 laps around a track, so running 10.25 miles sounded like the best way to go. I imagine Jon would rather I eat some teriyaki beef jerky, down it with some [fake] Guinness and go fishing in the afternoon, but of course that would be EASY and I have to make things difficult.

Knowing that the forecast called for a bright and sunny day hitting the mid-80s, I opted to get a run in as soon as the kiddo would let me. Breakfast was served [for her. I apparently forgot to eat], clothes were changed and we were ready to roll. We set out just as the cool of the morning was lifting, and thought “this weather is perfect for a 10 miler”. A couple of miles ticked by, and the sun started to move closer to high noon, and I was definitely sweating. A few more miles goes by and I notice that I had stopped sweating. Crap. I haven’t really hydrated all that well… you can see where this is going, right? I figured I’d keep my body busy, and down a GU – probably the earliest I’ve ever had one during a run before, but I figured desperate times called for desperate measures.

Couple of more miles go slowly by, Silly is well into her nap, and I’m left with just a fourth of my water bottle. Runs like these, are why I carry my wallet with me. I tuck into the shoppette, and buy the biggest water bottle I can find. By this time, I can see my arms turning pink [I naturally forgot to apply sunscreen to myself, but Silly was taken care of…] and I’m still 3 miles from home. 2.5 of these miles are set on a very L-O-N-G stretch of lonely road, completely void of any shade whatsoever. This was, by far, the most challenging point of the run. I was tired and hot, my warm skin was riddled with salt residue, and I just wanted to get home.

I bonked with a mile to go. No joke, I stopped about 4 times in the last mile, even twice while I was just in my neighborhood. I was happy to reach the house, and I immediately went straight to the freezer and grabbed a popsicle. I’m sure Jon thought I was quite the idiot – not fueling properly, not hydrating, not applying sunscreen, and not finishing strong – that’s what I get for not going the beef jerky/fishing route. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to kick this run’s butt, and not suffer through it!

But, here I am, happier than ever. Even with my arm hairs turned blonde by the sun, a sock tan and burnt legs. I did this for Jon. I definitely asked him for help – I thought about him every step of the way. Memories, stories, photos, questions that will never be answered – it was all there. I’m sad, yes. That is a given. But I can safely say that today, I felt him there with me. I just wish he could’ve offered to push the damn stroller ;)